And the doctor said....

That Katie's kidney stones are the same as it was last year... hasn't grown in size and haven't moved. Whew! On the screen, it just appeared to me to have tripled in number (the stones). Then again, I can't read an ultrasound, so what am I doing giving my opinion?

Katie has a little cold (or an asthmatic cough)... Maddie decided to jump on the bed yesterday while I kept her home, and bent Katie's finger all the way back. Now Katie can't bend it much at all, so we had to splint it up for her. I can't tell if it's swollen or not.

Oh, and a bright note, Maddie learned how to make STARS!! She was so proud of herself. She can make them if she writes FAST, and S-L-O-W... so next time you see Maddie, ask her to draw you a star. It'll make her day. :)

More stones for Katie

Katie had her annual ultrasound this afternoon for her kidneys. The radiologist tech was very close-lipped, but she did confirm there were more stones in BOTH of Katie's kidneys, vs just the one kidney at her last ultrasound. I could see the stones, they were so clear on the ultrasound. We don't have a doctor's appointment, but the doctor is going to call us after he reviews the ultrasounds and let us know what's going on. I was a little irritated at the tech b/c I kept asking "OK, just tell me what you see!", and her reply was "the doctor will have to tell you, I can't tell you because I'm not a doctor!". That made me nervous.

Maddie's New Friend

Last week Madison came home from school and told me she has a new best friend. She had been telling me she was so lonely at school because she only had one friend. I gave her a challenge to meet someone new that day at school, and ask her/him to play at recess! So, we did this for a week, and everyday she informed me she had a new friend! Well, last week she told me she made another new friend, and in her words: "Someone like you Mommy!" I asked her what she meant by that, and she said "well, she wears those things like you in your ear". At first I thought she meant earrings... but it was my hearing aids she meant! She said they didn't talk much, but they were great friends! I guess the little girl didn't hear much, but I wasn't for sure.

Today I picked the girls up from school, and Madison's new friend followed us past the car. Pru (or Prul or Purel... it's an Indian girl) and her mother said hello, and introduced themselves. I saw she had the hearing aids, but it turns out she actually had a cochlear implant in both ears done four years ago! She was born deaf, so what an amazing miracle involving technology for this girl! She goes half day to the Kansas School for the Deaf, and half day with Maddie's class. The school wanted her to get used to going to a school for the hearing, so she's a new student as well!

This family also lives at the complex as well, so they should probably play at the playground....whenever this rainy season passes!

Milkshakes with Grandma

A few weeks ago the girls and I went to visit my parents for the day. We had a great time helping them clean their garage out (OK, as great a time as one can have breathing in dirt and dust) ~ Maddie has proven herself to be a junkaholic... she loves to collect anything and everything. (thanks Dad for all the stuff Madison brought home!) Anyways, to reward ourselves, we headed out to Burr Oaks to walk in the woods for awhile. We heard some mighty bullfrogs just ribbit away by the pond. Very cool to hear (I've never heard a frog before).

Anyways, afterwards we headed to Winsteads for a Skyscraper Soda. I had many wonderful memories going there when I was in the Singles Branch, and a bunch of us would get one of these and share! They now have it in milkshakes as well, so we got a chocolate milkshake. We definitely had a great time trying to get the shake to come up out of our straw (OK, it was a hard thing to do, and our cheeks got a workout in the process).

"Momma... Y'know

What I want to be when I grow up?? A maid!"

gulp

Yes, Madison wants to be a maid when she grows up. How in the world do I answer this? "oh, honey, you can do SOOO much better than that!" or "OK, if that's what you want to do for the rest of your life, go for it and be the best maid you can be!". What do you think I said? Yes, I said the second one! But still... a MAID?!

Been busy learning new crafts... can't really such much now about the crafts b/c it's a gift for some people in my family. :) But, after a certain amount of time has passed, I'll share pictures. But, I'll just say I am having a blast making this and it's turning out SO cute!

Still doing jazzercise, and now taking up running (OK, trying to take up running). I think it's more of a jog a few feet, gasp for air, walk a LOT more feet, then run a few more feet, gasp for air... well, you get the idea. Ha ha! I did manage to job a full quarter of a mile this morning, so I'm stoked.


Katie's been working on a poem project she has for school. She has to create an "I AM" poem. I had to do this too, but in 8th grade. She's been collecting poem from Papa Bill and Papa Rod (b/c they've written poems), and she has to recite a poem, either what she has written, or one she has found. She told me she is wanting to recite Papa Bill's poem "Mother Goose Said That?". I recited that when I was in 5th or 6th grade too!


We had a family day at my grandma's on Sunday afternoon. Aunt Nay came into town, so it was wonderful to see this bronze lady (she moved to Florida and is now very tan... NOT FAIR!). Monday night we went to Mom & Dad Nelson's for a yummy dinner & a visit w/ Mike's grandma. She is here for a short while, and we enjoyed a wonderful visit w/ her. I have pictures of both events, but I left my camera at my in laws house, so pics will have to wait again!

Oh, and I think Maddie is scarred for life. Monday night on our way home from dinner, we're just driving along, minding our business. A police officer pulls Mike over. We both were thinking "huh?" Immediately I asked Mike 'what did you do?' to which he replies 'I dunno'. Apparently you CAN get a ticket for turning right on a road, if you don't stay in the farthest right lane. Mike went into the farthest LEFT lane first ... but he didn't get a ticket. Just a warning. *giggling* Maddie is so worried that Daddy was breaking the rules, that she has informed several people so far that Daddy got in trouble. She has asked me over and over "what happened to Daddy that the police came?"... to which I had to explain when we don't follow rules, we get in trouble. So... for any of you who will in the future take my child in their car, don't get stopped by the police. You will ruin her for life, I'll tell ya. *giggling*

Catching up on some pics...

Here are a few pictures of the things that have been going on ...


The last day of school... Maddie's favorite teacher...








The picture I took of Katie w/ the t-shirt her class gave her.




Katie's teacher at the "Light up the Night" event at school.

Here is Maddie with her 'Princess Leia' look. She loves her hair in these buns on the side of her head! To the right of the picture is Maddie's best friend ~ Lorelai. Oh how she misses her!











We tried experimenting with rag rollers made out of rags (former crib sheet). Let me tell you it took FOREVER to get these girls' hair in these rags, and they turned out soooo curly. They both hated it at first, but once it loosened up a bit, it wasn't too bad.

We went on a fantastic picnic the day before Easter with Grandma & Grandpa Nelson. It was a tad bit chilly on this day, so we ate really fast and had a quick egg hunt, then we went to the Liberty Jail. One fun fact about the Jail is that Papa Nelson's mother & grandmother served their LDS Mission here in Independence, MO. They lived in the home that was build over the jail (it's torn down now), but I tried to take a picture of the home they once lived in.

We took Grandma Polly to the new Bass Pro Shop in Independence. Very neat & big inside! Daddy would have LOVED to see some of the huge elk inside this store! Yikes! Katie's catching up to Grandma Polly! Slow down Katie!!

The New School

Monday the girls started their new school. Both Madison and I walked Katie to her new class with the guidance counselor. Her class is 20 kids total: 10 girls and 10 boys even. She has an amazing teacher, and I've heard much about her, so I think Katie will have a great 2 months here. Madison came home with me and we did odds and ends at the house until it was time for her to go to school. I dropped her off at school at 12:20 ... she goes to the afternoon kindergarten. A few tears were shedded, and I walked her back to her class. I had heard about this huge ordeal of picking up the kids and dropping them off. The bus system costs about $340 a kid to ride the bus all year... yikes! No wonder so many parents opt to drop and pick their kids up! I went to pick them up, and they don't get out until 3:40... parents start lining up at 3:00!! I got there about 3:20, and got my space in line (in the car). I learned my lesson though, so Tuesday I parked the car and picked both girls up outside ~ totally not a time waster if you do it that way!

Anyways, Katie and Madison had a great first day. Everyone is so friendly, and there is always a smile to be found at the school. We learned immediately that Katie is pretty far behind in her math at this school. They are already doing triple digits multiplications... among other things, so the amount of homework and explanations we have to do for Katie every night so far is pretty long. Hopefully she'll get some extra help at school, and we might have to get a tutor for her to catch her up to speed. I'm always leery of helping her b/c it seems the way I learned at school how to do things is not the way it's taught anymore. I would just confuse her even more.

Madison... she's a funny one. I asked her yesterday if she's learning anything new. She said "no.". I asked her if she already knew the stuff they were teaching. She said "no." So, I really have no clue what she's learning. I do have a parent/teacher conference set up for her next week... all parents do w/ the Kindergartners.

Both girls are emailing and getting letters from their friends at school. Katie received a t-shirt from her class, and so I took a picture of her wearing it and a "THANK YOU I MISS YOU TOO" sign that she's holding. We printed it out, and sent it to her school so they could know she got her package. They do miss their friends horribly.

We love our new ward .. there are LOTS of little girls for both girls to play with! In fact, I think there are more girls than boys. I don't know though, it just seems that way. At church, Mike and I walked into Sunday School, and we saw Sister Littlewood.. she and her family had moved out shortly after we came to 1st Ward. It was great to see a familiar face.

I took up Jazzercise, in the effort to lose weight and to bring myself back in touch with "me". I've gone two days so far, and my knees hurt already! It's a great workout though!

Just a quick note....

Had to take Katie in to the dr yesterday afternoon. I thought she had a UTI, but it came back negative. Her urine has blood in it, and it hurts her to pee, and she pees a lot. Definitely signs of a UTI... but since her past history has kidney stones, the dr thinks it might be stones moving. We are supposed to get her in to her kidney doctor soon to find out why she has blood in her urine. Keep her in your prayers, if you can.

Our new digs!!

I'm at my parents' house, so I was able to upload some pictures of our new place, so you can get an idea of our new place! We're enjoying the apartment, and all the amenities the complex has to offer .... so far we haven't used anything (except the computer room and the playground), but we're excited for the warmer weather to come visit so we can use the pool & playground more often! Katie wants a volleyball now, so she can learn how to play volleyball (we have sand volleyball), and of course, she's been begging for tennis lessons. Uncle Wes is coming to visit on Wednesday night and is going to play tennis.

I enrolled the girls in their new school on Monday. I about fell over when I saw there was a FEE to be a part of this school district!! $80 dollars a year! GASP! That was just the learning resource fee. There is a $10 fee for something else, a $2 fee for each kid for weekly folders, a $5 for binders w/ daily journals. After I got them enrolled, I asked the secretaries more in depth about this $80 fee (which would be $160 total for us). They said it was broken down by quarters, but all was due upfront at the beginning of the year. Since spring break starts on Thursday, they only had 2 days left of 3rd quarter. I would have had to pay $40 per kid since they technically would've entered in during the 3rd quarter. They *suggested* not coming until after spring break, and save $40.00 ($20 a kid), so that is what we're doing. My girls are going to have a full two weeks vacation. Wished we were sitting on a beach somewhere... anyone want to invite us. :D

On to our apartment pics...

This is the first thing you see when you head up our stairs from the front door.

This is our living room w/ the dining room behind it (see the big clock)

This is the other side of the living room

Dining room

Giant bathtub that everyone loves to death.... (but no one wants to clean)

This is looking at my kitchen.

I now have the comments enabled so anyone can comment... please let me know if you're reading! Just add your name at the end of your comment. :)

A New Chapter in our Life

So much has been going on in our life, and our poor little blog has been neglected!

Next week our life officially changes. We will be making the first of at least two moves for this year. The first move is still local, then in the summer we will be moving to San Antonio. The girls are really excited to move to Kansas first of all... and they're slowly getting excited about Texas. Katie will be the first to say that she'll have a hard time being away from her grandparents. But, we'll visit, they'll come visit, not to mention family can stay connected via the webcam, so hopefully it won't be as hard as we're anticipating.


On to the updates on the girls... Maddie is now missing FOUR teeth! We always tease her by putting our pinky fingers in her mouth, and she chomps down on them and of course, doesn't bite us b/c she doesn't have four teeth. She lost her second tooth at Katie's birthday party, then her third tooth a few minutes later just fell out on its own. (thanks Kasey for pulling them out! I've got a weak stomach when it comes to teeth). Her fourth tooth came out within a week or two later while at another birthday party. She's still struggling with her stuttering, but is currently working with a speech therapist to help her overcome her struggles. Every once in awhile, you can hear her just chattering away to her baby dolls (she's such a good little momma) and she doesn't stutter at all.

Another fun thing that we're learning about Madison: we're on a one level apartment (basically). She was always afraid to go upstairs at our house alone, so her toys would hardly get played with. Now, when we go to the apartment, she never comes out of her room. She loves to play with her Sweet Street toys and oh yes, her baby dolls. Her American Girl doll (thanks cousin Kasey!) is now being dressed over and over and over again (oh, and all of her other 50 dolls are being dressed too ~ the girl does not have a shortage in dolls!).

She's been working extremely hard with her "popcorn" words, and constantly amazes us with the books we pull out for her to read ... she can read them!! Sadly, when we move, she will be going from a full day Kindergarten to a half day Kindergarten class. I'm not sure she will know what's going on! But, since I am quitting my job to be with her during the half day she will be home, I know we'll have some amazing times together. I remembered my times with my mom growing up, and remembered how often she took the time to be with me, to do things with me and taught me much. I always hope I can be the type of mother to my children that my mother was to me.

Katie celebrated her 10th birthday bash at the ice skating rink. She had a few of her friends come and join her for this festivity. It was a very fun (and cold) day!!

Katie's been learning the recorder... man, just that word brings chills up and down my back! I couldn't believe it when she brought her music to me and her recorder, and was having difficulty playing "Hot Cross Buns" ... I didn't even look at her music, I just showed her. I remembered from my elementary school days how to play! Maybe the new school doesn't play the recorder? One can hope. :)

This past Saturday we spent the afternoon unloading stuff, and I took the girls to the playground to play. Katie was worried about making friends, and finally, after an hour, a few girls showed up who were around Katie's age. She was very relieved to know she had some friends! Maddie just played in the sand volleyball pit ... happily content with her sand and oblivious to the mess she was making (no one her age was out playing).

heck back in often ... now that we're moving away from family and friends, I will update often on the family. I know this is basically the girls' stuff, but I will post about the entire family's adventures as well. :)